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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27017077">slow dancing in the dark</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/jeserai/pseuds/jeserai'>jeserai</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, vampire catra..........vampcat</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 02:42:52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,331</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27017077</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/jeserai/pseuds/jeserai</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Lit by the full moon, Catra seems almost unearthly, a wraith lit in the pale silvery light. She reaches out a hand, caught in half a bow, and Adora takes it with an incredulous laugh that splits into a yelp when Catra yanks her forward and into a waltz.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adora/Catra (She-Ra)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>196</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>slow dancing in the dark</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Spend a night in the creepy haunted castle, they said,” Adora grumbles to herself, kicking aside a pebble and listening to it skitter off into the darkness, “film it all so we can see, they said...” Adora turns her camera around to face herself, squinting as the light hits her eyes. “Guys, if I </span>
  <em>
    <span>die </span>
  </em>
  <span>tonight, I’m seriously blaming you. I mean it, I’ll haunt you too.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Even now, Adora can practically hear Bow’s voice in her ear: </span>
  <em>
    <span>well, you didn’t </span>
  </em>
  <span>have</span>
  <em>
    <span> to accept the dare, you could’ve just taken the punishment—</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“And I</span>
  <em>
    <span> know </span>
  </em>
  <span>I could’ve taken the punishment instead of doing the dare, but after what Mermista made Sea Hawk do...</span>
  <em>
    <span>no </span>
  </em>
  <span>way.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Now, Glimmer: </span>
  <em>
    <span>hey, at least you’re alone?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>As if on cue, she hears the quiet shuffle of something moving too far ahead to see, and Adora stops dead in her tracks. It’s probably just a bug, or a rat, and besides, it’s not like ghosts need to walk, right? Just in case, Adora switches off the light on her camera, eyes straining in the dark to even catch a hint of what had moved.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The seconds drag out as Adora tries to decide whether to continue forward or to make a run for it, and just when she’s ready to turn around and forget the dare altogether, there comes from the dark up ahead a quiet, blessedly </span>
  <em>
    <span>human </span>
  </em>
  <span>voice that calls out, “Hello? Is—is someone there?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>For a moment, Adora considers not responding and trying to quietly edge backwards, but then, it sounds like a girl, and she definitely sounds scared…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With a sigh, Adora turns her camera’s light back on and takes a few careful steps forward. “Yeah, do you see a light?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m not coming any closer until you tell me why you’re here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Which is fair. “It sounds stupid, but my friends dared me to spend the night here, so…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The girl, still in the dark, laughs at that. “And you </span>
  <em>
    <span>did </span>
  </em>
  <span>it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, </span>
  <em>
    <span>yeah, </span>
  </em>
  <span>if you don’t do your initial dare, you have to do a punishment, and the last punishment someone had was to run around the docks naked and singing a sea shanty, so…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A </span>
  <em>
    <span>sea shanty?</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My friends are </span>
  <em>
    <span>very </span>
  </em>
  <span>weird,” Adora says, “but the one that had to do it, well...his nickname is Sea Hawk, so it’s not surprising that he actually </span>
  <em>
    <span>knew </span>
  </em>
  <span>sea shanties off the top of his head. And that he was absolutely delighted to do his punishment.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The girl laughs and Adora feels a smile slip onto her face in response; and with a voice that even </span>
  <em>
    <span>sounds </span>
  </em>
  <span>like fondly rolling eyes, the girl says, "Okay, fine, you sound normal enough."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And then, more quiet footsteps, and—she steps into the light. And despite the way she's squinting in the dim glow of Adora's camera, despite the smear of dirt across her cheek, despite even the cold stone surrounding them, she is beautiful.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You're recording?" Does she sound annoyed? She definitely sounds annoyed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh—yeah, sorry. I can delete the footage later if you want, it was just part of my dare, to make sure I actually do it or whatever." Adora swings the camera back around towards herself and gives the viewfinder a middle finger, relishing the way it makes the girl laugh again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It's fine, I just don't really like being on camera. But anyway...what's your name, mystery girl?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Adora."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Pretty name for a pretty girl. I'm Catra," the girl—Catra—says, and then, as she sidles up just behind Adora and places a fever-hot hand on hers to turn the camera back to face them, "and I hope your friends know that it's very rude to film people without their permission."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The words are chastising, but Catra is so close and so warm that Adora barely hears them. "Uh—yeah. I can turn it off and...I guess turn it back on in the morning?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Another pretty laugh. If Catra were to tip forward just a bit she'd be leaning full against Adora. Unfortunately, she steps back and Adora pivots to face her as if led on a string. "It's your choice, Adora."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What about the light? How will we be able to see?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra shrugs, reaches out to touch the camera again. “Well, do you trust me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And she shouldn’t; Catra is a stranger in a strange place, and to throw herself into the dark with someone she’s only just met would be a stupid, </span>
  <em>
    <span>stupid </span>
  </em>
  <span>thing to do, but— “I don’t know why, but I kind of do.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra smiles, wide and beautiful and giddy, and presses the button to turn Adora’s camera off. And the world goes dark. Adora fumbles for Catra and somehow touches her arm, holds on tight, even when Catra laughs and breaks away—because it’s just to fix her position so she can twine their fingers together.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just wait a bit, okay? Your eyes will adjust.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And slowly, they do. It’s not </span>
  <em>
    <span>much, </span>
  </em>
  <span>but soon Adora is able to differentiate pitch-black from dark-gray and regular black, and she can see the faint outline of Catra, so very close. “So, you come here often?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra laughs again and Adora can almost see her shaking her head. “What can I say, it’s kind of peaceful, in a weird way. I stumbled across this castle ages ago when I was in a really bad place, and...I’m in a much better place now, but it still centers me, to be here alone in the dark, if that makes sense.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And...maybe to anyone else, it wouldn't, but to Adora, “Yeah, it does. I like...being trapped when I’m overwhelmed, either in between things or beneath something...I’m like the opposite of claustrophobic, I love being in tight, small spaces.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra hums and gently, slowly begins to pull Adora deep into the castle. “Hey, if I like to hang out in creepy dark castles, I can’t judge you for liking being squished. But </span>
  <em>
    <span>where</span>
  </em>
  <span> do you go for that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I...have a lot of plushies.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Cute,” Catra huffs out a little laugh, and then, just as Adora’s eyes are really beginning to get used to the dark, they round a corner and enter a room that is not so much a </span>
  <em>
    <span>room </span>
  </em>
  <span>as it is a floor and massive columns reaching towards empty sky. “This used to be the ballroom, I think,” Catra finally lets go of Adora’s hand to step forwards and do a little twirl, “it </span>
  <em>
    <span>seems </span>
  </em>
  <span>it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lit by the full moon, Catra seems almost unearthly, a wraith lit in the pale silvery light. She reaches out a hand, caught in half a bow, and Adora takes it with an incredulous laugh that splits off into a yelp when Catra yanks her forward and into a waltz. She’s clearly danced before, and Adora is suddenly glad for taking lessons with Bow, because it’s so easy to fall into step together, to let Catra spin them around the room as she hums a bouncing song under her breath. When she dips Adora, it is deep, and Adora hooks her leg around Catra’s to keep her balance, </span>
  <em>
    <span>ignoring </span>
  </em>
  <span>the delighted curve of Catra’s lips.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When she lets Adora back up, Catra’s brows are raised and her eyes, gem-bright blue and gold, are practically luminescent. “You’re certainly full of surprises!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What can I say, I’m a girl with charm—my friend and I took dance classes a few years ago. I’m pretty rusty, but I didn’t step on your toes, at least.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You were brilliant,” Catra compliments, and they’d just done simple steps, but Adora still flushes pink at the praise.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What else is there?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>If she’s disappointed, Catra doesn’t show it, just nods and sweeps an arm out towards the door they’ve danced up to. “It gets dark again, okay?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But the dark is just about familiar by now, and Adora no longer needs Catra to steer her around fallen debris. They reach a huge stone staircase, perhaps left untrod in hundreds of years but for them, and Adora climbs with Catra at her side, their arms hooked together now. Catra is humming that same song again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What song is that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra starts, glances sidelong at Adora, and shakes her head. “Just something I made up ages ago.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I rather like it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra laughs again, a pleased, lilting sound, and directs Adora into one of the rooms. The old wooden door has long since rotted away but the room just beyond somehow remains untouched by time, but for the faint layer of dust that has settled over everything. There are footprints scattered across the room—Catra’s, most likely—and Adora almost feels like they aren’t supposed to be here.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But Catra steps forward and into the bedroom without a second thought, so Adora follows her. “Welcome to my room,” she says a bit dryly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Adora appraises it: the four-poster bed with heavy blankets perfectly made, the bookshelf full of ancient books, the desk with a blank sheet of paper next to a quill and a dried up ink bottle. The closet further in—that when she opens, reveals heavy dresses and still-shiny shoes—and the empty basin that perhaps housed water to wash in, once upon a time. It is simple, but she can imagine it in a different time, with a girl that went to balls and wore fancy gowns and sealed her letters with a wax seal, and Adora </span>
  <em>
    <span>likes </span>
  </em>
  <span>it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I like it, but how...how is it </span>
  <em>
    <span>like </span>
  </em>
  <span>this?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra has strode over to the fireplace and now squats in front of it, hands held out to be warmed by a non-existent flame. “There are legends,” she starts slowly, “that some things...stay like this, just outside the reach of time.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But </span>
  <em>
    <span>why?</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra shrugs, stands, spins on her heel to face Adora. Again, she looks like some kind of phantom, and Adora involuntarily takes a step back. “I think it’s magic. I think it’s the presence of something supernatural, something with such a tie to the place—to this room, for example—that they...fuse somehow, become immortal together.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So...like a pocket dimension?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra considers this and shrugs again. “I suppose. What I’m most curious about is why it only affects one room out of this whole place.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And why no one else has found it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At that, Catra’s brows jerk up in clear surprise, and this time it’s Adora’s turn to shrug. “There’s no graffiti, no litter, nothing. Just our—and your—footprints.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra nods slowly, a pleased little grin quirking the corners of her lips up. “Just us,” she repeats.</span>
</p><p><span>And suddenly, Adora is very very aware that it </span><em><span>is </span></em><span>just them, far off in the middle of nowhere. She then realizes that she’s dropped her camera somewhere, that it really is </span><em><span>just</span></em> <em><span>them. </span></em><span>Her throat dries up as Catra takes a slow, measured step towards her, and then another. Her eyes are still bright with some kind of secret, and they </span><em><span>shine </span></em><span>when she passes the window still somehow set with glass, and—</span></p><p>
  <span>“Catra...where are you from?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra does not even falter. “Here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And the pieces are falling into place now, and despite the mounting dread, Adora cannot bring herself to move, not even an inch. “Okay, let me—” deep breath in, deep breath out. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>When </span>
  </em>
  <span>are you from?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Now Catra pauses. As she cocks her head to the side, a bewildered expression written across her face, Adora wonders if maybe she got it wrong, wonders if Catra is going to laugh. But the other girl just shakes her head and pouts a little, and Adora curses herself for the fact that she thinks the action is still somehow adorable. “What gave it away?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Your eyes...they glow. Normal human eyes do </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>glow.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra nods and steps back into the light, eyes closed. This time, when they open, they are normal, and she is smiling. “Like this?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, </span>
  <em>
    <span>yes, </span>
  </em>
  <span>but that’s not—</span>
  <em>
    <span>Catra.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Said girl gives Adora a wounded look, which Adora completely ignores. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>What </span>
  </em>
  <span>are you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra somehow has the audacity to </span>
  <em>
    <span>wink. </span>
  </em>
  <span>“I think you already know the answer to that one, don’t you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And Adora does. But breathing that word aloud, letting it rest in the air between them, acknowledging what she knew from perhaps the very beginning...it would make this all </span>
  <em>
    <span>real. </span>
  </em>
  <span>“I—you’re...</span>
  <em>
    <span>god. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Just open your mouth.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With another slow wink, Catra obliges. This time, instead of dull human teeth, she suddenly has a mouth full of fangs, razor sharp and dangerous. But still somehow beautiful. She should be scared, Adora </span>
  <em>
    <span>knows </span>
  </em>
  <span>she should be scared, but as her breath leaves her all at once, she realizes that somehow, all she feels is awe.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>You’re </span>
  </em>
  <span>the reason the room is like this, aren’t you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra’s mouth snaps shut and she pouts a little, seemingly disappointed that Adora didn’t, what, run away screaming? “Yeah…aren’t you scared? Even a tiny bit?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’d be more scared if I didn’t know what a huge dork you are.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra actually </span>
  <em>
    <span>pouts </span>
  </em>
  <span>at that. Adora can’t help the incredulous laugh that spills out, and after only a moment of hesitation, sits down on the bed that is actually...far softer than it had looked. It is only when she holds her hand out that Catra takes it and joins her, and...maybe it shouldn’t be this easy to talk to someone that kind of threatened to kill her, but...Catra kind of just feels</span>
  <em>
    <span> safe</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maybe that’s why, as the hours pass, they end up lying down together, Adora’s head in Catra’s lap as Catra’s fingers curl through her hair. Catra’s been telling Adora about bits and pieces of her endlessly long life—about her time as a human and the balls she’d gone to, about how she’d run away from home to escape the marriage her parents had tried to force on her, about how she’d met the vampire that turned her, about the countless lives she’s lived since then—and after a lengthy pause, Adora begins to talk too. Admittedly, she doesn’t have as many thrilling stories, but Catra listens to her rambles about her friends and her family and her dog with an enraptured smile flirting with her lips, as if Adora’s stories are some of the most intriguing things she’s ever heard.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eventually, Adora stops for air, and all at once, she realizes that Catra’s hand has stilled in her hair and that she’s just staring, her smile gone soft and sweet. “I’m—oh my god, I’m sorry, I kind of ramble when I’m nervous.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why are you nervous?” Catra asks. She sounds like she’s trying to bite back a laugh, but she seems genuinely curious, and Adora grumbles a bit under her breath and closes her eyes so she doesn’t have to see the way Catra melts around the edges for her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Because it’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>you.</span>
  </em>
  <span> And now you probably think I’m an idiot for talking so much—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Catra interrupts her, it is done gently, her voice quiet and sure. “I think you’re fascinating.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And that’s somehow </span>
  <em>
    <span>worse. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Adora makes a strangled noise high in her throat and throws her arm over her face so Catra doesn’t see her blushing, and Catra just laughs, light and airy and beautiful. “Oh, sweet sunshine, you have no idea, do you? You’re the first human I’ve allowed this close in centuries, certainly the first ever that I’ve willingly let into my home.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And—</span>
  <em>
    <span>god. </span>
  </em>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Why?</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra gently pulls Adora’s arm away from her face and stares down at her hard for a long few minutes, as if trying to memorize every bit of her face. And Adora finds herself doing the same, taking in the soft halo her curls make around her face, her jewel-bright eyes, the freckles scattered across her cheeks like constellations. And then—the gentle points at the tips of her ears, her slit pupils, her tiny fangs that flash out when she opens her mouth. Catra is gorgeous, effortlessly so, </span>
  <em>
    <span>dangerously </span>
  </em>
  <span>so, and it only heightens Adora’s confusion.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why </span>
  <em>
    <span>me?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” she asks again, softer this time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Catra opens her mouth, closes it. And then, finally, she speaks. “I just...feel safe with you. You make me feel warm, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>alive </span>
  </em>
  <span>again. Like…” Abruptly, Catra bends down and presses her lips to Adora’s forehead, giggling as Adora chokes on empty air. When she pulls away, she’s beaming, little fangs poking at her lower lip. But she looks satisfied, and with a nod of finality, Catra says, “You make me feel like </span>
  <em>
    <span>that. </span>
  </em>
  <span>I </span>
  <em>
    <span>like </span>
  </em>
  <span>it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Adora clumsily struggles to sit up, shifting around until she’s facing Catra, who again looks curious. “Do you know how you make </span>
  <em>
    <span>me </span>
  </em>
  <span>feel?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Adora reaches out and takes one of Catra’s hands in both of hers, gently holding it and tracing all of the lines and veins with her fingertip. Catra’s hand is fever-warm, and calloused, and small, and it fits perfectly in Adora’s when she carefully, slowly twines their fingers together. And then, when she is sure that Catra’s gaze is fixed upon her (and it is, has been the whole time—Catra is not even breathing, her eyes wide and shining as she tracks Adora’s every movement) Adora bends and kisses the back of Catra’s hand. It is a simple motion, but it makes Catra gasp and shiver all the way down to her toes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There is wonder and reverence in Catra’s eyes now, like she understands what Adora herself isn’t quite sure of yet, and as she glances down at their still joined hands, that warm smile comes back full force. “I think you make me feel like that too.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This close, it would be so simple—maybe even </span>
  <em>
    <span>too </span>
  </em>
  <span>simple—to lean in and offer Catra a kiss as soft as the touches they’d shared, but as Catra’s lips part, all Adora can focus on now is the glint of her fangs. And maybe it’s rude to ask, maybe it’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>dangerous </span>
  </em>
  <span>to ask, but what comes tumbling out is, “Can I see them again?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her lips quirk into another one of those sharp grins, but Catra obediently opens her mouth, and keeps it open still when Adora shifts somehow even closer, cradling her cheek with one hand. With just the tip of her index finger on her free hand, she traces the points of Catra’s fangs: the four baby fangs, like a traditional vampire’s, and the four just next to them, larger and even more vicious. She knows she’s playing with fire, but Adora slowly increases pressure until her fingertip blooms red with a bead of blood, and she watches with amusement as Catra’s eyes widen.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But before the other girl—the </span>
  <em>
    <span>vampire—</span>
  </em>
  <span>can get any ideas, Adora withdraws her hands from Catra’s face and shifts away, her heart dancing a foxtrot in her chest. “I—the sun is going to come up soon, will you let me leave?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Will you tell anyone about me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Honestly, Adora hadn’t even thought of that. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>No, </span>
  </em>
  <span>I just...think I should go for now. In case…” Adora glances down at the streak of red on her finger, then back up at Catra, who is watching her curiously.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’ll go,” Catra repeats, “for now.” She doesn’t phrase it like one, but it’s a question, clear as day.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If you’ll have me again, I’d...I like to come back.” At the disbelieving arch of Catra’s brow, Adora rushes out, “I want to see you again, if </span>
  <em>
    <span>you </span>
  </em>
  <span>want to see </span>
  <em>
    <span>me </span>
  </em>
  <span>again. You could...tell me more about your old life, I don’t know.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At that, Catra’s serious expression breaks and she begins to laugh. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>God, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Adora, you’re such an idiot—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But can I come back?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In a tone that very much suggests that she doesn’t believe that Adora ever will, Catra says, “Sure, you can come back.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>(And the very next night, and every night after that, Adora does.)</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
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